Texas Tech regent Cody Campbell has spent weeks pushing for federal legislation to bring more structure to college athletics. On Friday night, he got a major boost.
After days of negotiations, the SEC and Big Ten announced they will support the bipartisan Protect College Sports Act, the Senate bill introduced by Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.). With the two power conferences now on board, the legislation has its strongest momentum yet as lawmakers look to advance it before Congress breaks for its summer recess.
Campbell, who has become one of the most visible advocates for college athletics reform, called the agreement "a major breakthrough that moves us closer to a Senate vote — and a better future" for college sports.
The revised proposal would significantly reshape how schools compensate athletes.
Under the bill, universities could provide up to $27.5 million annually to retain athletes, in addition to the existing $21.3 million revenue-sharing cap created through the House settlement. The added funding is intended to replace much of the money currently paid through third-party NIL collectives and affiliated organizations, moving more athlete compensation under a school's direct oversight.
That change could be especially meaningful for Big 12 programs.
The conference has often found itself competing against schools backed by some of the nation's wealthiest donor collectives. By shifting more compensation in-house and tightening rules surrounding third-party NIL deals, the proposal aims to create a more consistent system across college athletics. Those NIL provisions were among the issues the SEC and Big Ten wanted addressed before agreeing to support the legislation.
There are still plenty of unanswered questions.
It's not yet clear how the proposal would work alongside the House settlement, which established a hard revenue-sharing cap tied to athletic department revenue. The future of the College Sports Commission, the NCAA's new NIL enforcement arm, also remains uncertain if third-party deals become far less common under a new federal framework.
The timing of Friday's announcement wasn't insignificant, either.
Earlier in the day, the NCAA suffered two more legal defeats involving its age-based eligibility rules, another reminder of the legal pressure facing college athletics. Those setbacks only strengthen the argument from supporters that Congress, not the courts, will ultimately have to establish a long-term framework for the industry.
The Protect College Sports Act still has a long way to go. The bill must gain enough support in the Senate before moving to the House, where previous efforts to pass college athletics legislation have stalled.
Even so, Friday marked a meaningful step for the Big 12. Campbell has played a prominent role in pushing for the legislation, and with the SEC and Big Ten now publicly backing the bill, the conference has an influential voice helping shape what could become the biggest overhaul of college athletics governance in decades.
